The present invention pertains to rear projection screens, and, in particular, to a rear projection screen formed of multiple panels which are interconnected by a framing system.
There are generally two types of projection screens utilized today. The first type is a front projection screen wherein the image is cast onto the screen from the same direction in which the image is viewed by an audience. The second type is a rear projection screen wherein the image is projected onto the rear surface of the screen relative to the location of the audience who view the image on the screen front surface. In many applications, rear projection screens are formed of multiple panels interconnected to form a contiguous viewing area. The multiple panels may be used to display multiple images or to display one large image, as materials commonly used in the industry may make impractical the manufacture of a sufficiently large single panel for a larger size screen.
In multi-panel screen construction, framing systems are used to interconnect screen panels in a screen-forming relationship. One known framing system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,339 employs front and rear bracket components which are connected with fasteners and which cooperate to sandwich opposing edge portions of adjacent rear projection screen panels. The straight edges of these sandwiched panel edge portions are spaced apart by the bracket fasteners disposed therebetween. Along their outer width portions, the facing surfaces of the front and rear bracket components frictionally engage the front and rear panel surfaces overlapped by the brackets to grip and maintain the panels in the assembled arrangement. However, the central width portion of the brackets at which the fasteners are located at longitudinally spaced intervals do not further hold the panels as no panel is situated therebetween to grip. Despite being highly effective, this framing system would be improved if the screen separating width of the front and rear bracket components could be reduced. In particular, although the sophisticated computer systems typically used to generate the data projected on multiple panel rear projection screens are essentially designed to produce visual images across the entire screen surface which appear seamless, i.e. none of the image is projected onto the framing system and therefore lost, the frame portion interrupts the continuity of the image. Therefore, reducing the physical separation of the images would assist an audience member in visually connecting the panel images. Furthermore, by reducing their width, the front bracket components would be even less visible to the audience when the screen is not being operated.
A wide assortment of still other framing systems have also been utilized in conjunction with rear projection screens. As aptly explained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,339, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, these framing systems suffer from a variety of shortcomings which thereby reduce their desirability.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a multi-panel rear projection screen assembly having the advantages of the screen disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,339 but which further allows for the reduction of the physical separation between images.